


The Amazingly Horrendous Homecoming

by JaceOfSpace



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Angst, Everything is great and then it's not, Freshman Year, Homecoming, Homophobia, Michael has two moms, Physical abuse (brief), Trans Jeremy Heere, Trans Male Character, Transphobia, Verbal Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-10
Updated: 2018-01-10
Packaged: 2019-02-13 16:52:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12988353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaceOfSpace/pseuds/JaceOfSpace
Summary: Jeremy and Michael had the entire plan for their perfect homecoming dance all laid out: Jeremy leaves his house in a dress, changes at Michael's place, goes to the dance, has a great time with his best friend, changes again at Michael's, and arrives back home in a dress. It was the perfect plan, and they followed it to a T.However, everything went to shit when Jeremy came out a week later. Well, he didn't come out of the closet so much as someone bust the door down and shoved him out before he was ready, and the results were not pretty.





	The Amazingly Horrendous Homecoming

**Author's Note:**

> I've been thinking about my senior year of high school a lot lately, and it's a little draining. So, I'm self-projecting as a coping mechanism (sorry Jeremy) in hopes that is will make me feel better. This is my first time posting fanfiction, so I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> **Content warning:** transphobia, misnaming/misgendering, homophobia, verbal abuse, victim blaming/guilt tripping, brief occurrence of physical abuse (if I need to add any other warnings, please let me know!)

"Oh honey, you look so beautiful!" Jeremy's mother was fussing over her "daughter," looking "her" over in the dress they picked out at a thrift shop (Jeremy wasn't about to let his mom pay for a brand new, overpriced dress he wasn't even going to actually wear all night).  

"T-Thanks, Mom," Jeremy replied awkwardly. He felt incredibly uncomfortable in the sparkly baby blue dress and too-high heels his mother insisted on him wearing, but thankfully he would be rid of the offending clothing articles soon enough.

"Let's get some pictures of you and Michael together so you two can head out," his mother said before waving Michael over to stand next to Jeremy.

Michael hurried over once both of his mothers finished fussing over him as well, making sure his bow tie wasn't crooked and that not a hair on his head was out of place. Jeremy's mother made the boys take dozens of pictures together, saying what a cute couple they would make and causing them both to blush in embarrassment at the thought of dating their best friend.

After a good 15 minutes, their amateur photo shoot was done, and the boys were just about ready to head out to the dance (as far as Jeremy's mom knew) with Michael's moms.

"Make sure you take good care of my baby girl, Michael," Jeremy's mother said to him before they stepped out the door.

"Yes, Mrs. Heere. I will," Michael quickly replied as he grabbed Jeremy's hand and dragged him out to the car before Jeremy's mom could say anything else to either of them. They jumped into the car and waited patiently as Michael's mom drove them to the Mell household.

Jeremy bounced in his seat with excitement as they were about to put the plan they all formulated together for the past month into motion. When first discussing the idea of going to their freshman year homecoming dance, Jeremy expressed to Michael the discomfort he would feel with wearing a dress. So Michael, being the genius that he was, recommended that Jeremy find some cheap boy's clothes to change into before they actually went to the dance.

The past month was spent with Jeremy going between shopping with his mom to find the cheapest dress possible (not caring how he looked in it, just if it would make his mom happy) and shopping with Michael and his moms at local thrift stores to find a nice enough button up and slacks for him to wear. They decided to keep everything in Michael's closet in order to prevent Jeremy's parents from finding any of it, knowing they (especially Jeremy's mother) would absolutely flip if they found their "daughter" dressing in such clothing.

Once they arrived at the Mells' home, Jeremy leapt out of the car, heels already taken off of his feet, and ran into their house. He flew up the stairs into Michael's room and started getting out of the dress immediately. He then changed into a binder he kept hidden from his parents for months, a crisp navy blue button up (special thanks to Michael's mom for ironing it for him), a white bow tie, and slacks.

Jeremy flung the door to Michael's room open once he had everything on, excitedly bouncing on the balls of his feet. Michael was standing in the hallway outside his room, giving Jeremy a once over and letting out a low whistle.

"Wow, looking good, dude," he said, pointing finger guns at Jeremy and jokingly winking at him. Jeremy blushed nonetheless and laughed off his friend's goofiness. Michael chuckled as well then stepped into the room to find a pair of dress shoes that Jeremy could borrow.

"Thanks, man. I feel good, too," Jeremy said with a huge grin that could split his face in two. He took the shoes and slipped them onto his feet once Michael handed them over, tying them as tightly as possible as they were slightly too big for him.

The two then proceeded into the bathroom, where Michael helped Jeremy style his hair to look a bit more formal for their first high school dance. Once Michael finished gelling Jeremy's hair in place, he turned Jeremy so he could see himself in the mirror. Seeing his reflection nearly caused Jeremy to burst into tears. Rather than the little girl everyone thought he was and his parents wanted him to be, he saw Jeremy Heere looking back at him from the mirror: the boy he knew he was from a young age.

Jeremy turned and quickly wrapped his arms around Michael, burying his face in the crook of his best friend's neck and whispering "thank you" over and over again. Stumbling somewhat, Michael managed to regain his balance and return Jeremy's hug, squeezing the smaller boy with just as much force and affection.

"C'mon, Jer, don't get all emotional just yet. We still have the entire night ahead of us," Michael said with a grin. He gave Jeremy two firm pats on the back before pulling out of the embrace. Jeremy returned Michael's grin, his face showing more joy than he had ever expressed before.

"Yeah, let's get going!" Jeremy exclaimed then dashed out of the bathroom. Michael chuckled softly at the other boy before giving himself a quick glance in the mirror, shrugging slightly at the wrinkles in his red button up caused by Jeremy's enthusiastic hug, then following Jeremy down the stairs.

With that, Michael's parents drove the boys to their high school, dropping them off at the front of the building and wishing for them both a fun night. The boys waved to Michael's moms as they drove away and turned to walk through the front doors of the school.

Upon reaching the doors to the gym, where music was blasting and students had already started dancing, Jeremy entire body tensed and froze before crossing the threshold. All of the anxiety of presenting himself as male in front of all of their peers finally caught up to him in that moment.

The sudden change in Jeremy's posture didn't go unnoticed by Michael, who gently nudged Jeremy with his elbow to help bring him back down to earth.

"Hey, you good, man?" Michael asked, his eyebrows raised in concern. Jeremy let out a breath he wasn't aware he was holding and attempted to relax his rigid shoulders.

"Yeah, I'm uh- yeah, good," Jeremy managed to stutter out, giving Michael an unsure smile. Michael returned the gesture then held out his hand, bowing dramatically.

"Well then,  _Jeremiah_ ," Michael said, putting extra emphasis on Jeremy's full name, "may I have this dance?" Jeremy giggled at his friend's antics, feeling relief start to replace the panic formerly engulfing his body.

"But of course, _Michelangelo_." The attempt at lengthening Michael's name caused the aforementioned boy to snort out a laugh as Jeremy took Michael's hand into his own. The two of them finally made their way into the gym, weaving through their classmates to find a space in the back to dance without being crowded by a bunch of horny teenagers grinding against each other.

They partied the night away, dancing like nobody was watching (granted nobody was) in their own secluded corner and remained undisturbed from the rest of the student populous. Jeremy was especially thankful for their peers ignoring them and not saying anything to him about his attire.

Overall, they had a fantastic time and lots of fun: there was none of the usual harassment from bullies; they took silly pictures together in the photo booth; they shared lots of laughter over the course of the night; and they even jokingly slow danced together, making fun of each other's dancing and giggling the entire time.

Three hours later, the dance unfortunately ended, but Michael and Jeremy felt unsatisfied with the night ending there, which is how the two ended up walking downtown to the local Denny’s. They spent another two hours hanging out in the diner, talking about their favorite video games and upcoming games they were excited about playing in the near future over a couple plates of pancakes.

Once they were both contently on the verge of entering food comas and about to pass out at the booth they were seated at, Michael called his mother to pick them up and take them home. The boys were driven back to the Mells’ home once more, where Jeremy changed back into the dress and bagged up his other clothes and pictures from the dance.

On the drive back to Jeremy's house, Michael's mom looked at the two boys in the back seat through her rear view mirror and saw them leaning against each other, nodding off slightly from the exhaustion of such an exciting night washing over them both. She smiled to herself at the sight, knowing without needing to ask that they both had an amazing time together.

When she pulled up into the Heeres' driveway, she reached back to gently nudge the nearly sleeping boys to let them know it was time for Jeremy to go. Michael nodded and rubbed his eyes as he opened the car door, pulling a grumbling and sleepy Jeremy out with him.

Michael walked Jeremy up to his front door, both sharing delirious whispers and giggles but staying quiet enough to not wake up Jeremy's parents. They shared one more tired, clumsy hug before Jeremy had to go inside.

"Thank you again for everything. Tonight was awesome, and it means the world to me that you went through all this effort to make sure I was comfortable," Jeremy whispered into Michael's shoulder. The taller boy's breath hitched slightly and cheeks flushed, going unnoticed by Jeremy who was way too tired to notice much of anything by that point.

"Of course, Jer. You mean the world to me, and I'd do anything for you," Micheal responded. They pulled out of the hug, giving each other tired smiles as Jeremy turned to walk into his front door. 

Jeremy silently made his way to his bedroom, making sure not to make a sound in order to not wake his parents at such a late hour and risk getting caught with his change of clothes. Upon entering his room, Jeremy threw the bag of clothing and pictures under his bed, making a mental note to hide them better later when he got the chance. He changed back out of the dress, hung it up in his closet, and pulled on an oversized t-shirt and sweatpants before slipping into his bed, easily drifting off into a peaceful sleep to the thought of all of the pleasant memories he made that night with his best friend and wearing clothes that finally felt right on his body.

Everything was perfect and nothing could taint this amazing night for Jeremy.

 

* * *

 

_Until one week later._

Everything went to shit the second Jeremy walked into his room after school on the Friday after the dance, finding his mother standing in the middle of the room. She radiated rage, standing there with her arms crossed, the photographs from the dance in hand, and Jeremy’s homecoming clothes spread out on the floor in front of her. Jeremy's entire body entirely went rigid, immediately feeling numb, and his breaths grew shallow, knowing he was in deep shit.

"Annaliese Heere," his mother started sternly, making Jeremy cringe internally at hearing his full birth name. "Would you care to explain what in the world this is that I found under your bed?"

"I-I, um, it's..." Jeremy swallowed thickly, feeling his blood run cold as he tried to stutter out an answer. "T-those are p-pictures from homecoming... A-and some clothes that Michael left here a while back."

"Don't you lie to me, Anna!" His mother spat back at him, causing him to physically flinch. "I am your mother, and you will tell me the truth." She held up a picture of himself and Michael standing in a goofy pose and wearing ridiculous props. If Jeremy wasn't so terrified of the current situation, he would laugh in embarrassment at the photo. His attention was redirected to his mother's voice when she pointed to him in the picture and demanded, "Tell me who this is in this picture. _Now._ "

Jeremy drew in a shaky breath, feeling his entire body shaking as he fidgeted with the cuffs of his cardigan sleeves. "That's me..." He begrudgingly admitted. "I'm so sor-"

"How could you go behind my back like this?!" his mother shouted, effectively interrupting Jeremy as his mouth snapped shut. "How could you go to your dance wearing _this_ after all the money and effort I spent on making sure you looked as beautiful as you did?! In the dress that _you_ picked out! How could you do this to your own mother?!" She looked at him expectantly, tears forming in her eyes as she shouted at Jeremy.

"Because I knew you'd never approve of me wearing that!" Jeremy shouted back. "I picked the cheapest dress I could because you wanted me to wear one, even though I tried to tell you so many times that I wasn't comfortable in them." Jeremy could feel tears pricking his own eyes, but he tried his best to hold them back and keep himself pulled together, despite the building tension. "I-I really tried to make you happy by trying on dresses, b-but I just couldn't do it. I didn't feel right w-wearing them, and I'm sorry I disappointed y-you..." he trailed off at the end, his voice getting wobbly and strained.

His mother stared at him in near shock, obviously trying to hold back the fact that she was fuming. "So what are you, then? A lesbian? I've had my suspicions for a while and was trying so hard to accept it, Anna, but you going behind my back like this is unacceptable."

Jeremy took in another shaky breath, steeling himself to say what he needed to say and prepare himself for his mother's reaction. "A-actually, Mom, I'm..." He had to pause to take another deep breath, terrified to say this out loud to anyone other than Michael and his mothers. "I'm transgender. I'm a boy." Part of Jeremy felt like a weight had finally been lifted off his shoulders now that this information was finally out in the open, but that moment of calm only lasted for a second.

"Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me, Annaliese! You're being delusional! You're _not_ a boy!" Jeremy's mother was screaming at this point as he shrunk into himself, hunching over and finally letting the tears pour down his face as he gasped for air. "Do you think this because of Michael and those _queers_ he calls parents?! Have they been putting some kind of ideas in your head that this is okay and normal?!"

Jeremy could hardly think over his mom's yelling, everything feeling too loud and too fast. His lack of response made his mother continue her rambling, trying to find some kind of "cause" for what she thought was wrong with her child.

"Did somebody hurt you to make you feel this way? Are you being bullied for your haircut? Did I mess up raising you- Oh God, Anna, I must have messed something up to make you think this. I shouldn’t have let you have as much access to the internet as I did, it’s only corrupted your mind-"

"No! Mom, it's none of that!" Jeremy interrupted when he could finally process his thoughts and find his voice. He needed to say something before she could continue guilt tripping him, making herself the victim, and coming to completely incorrect conclusions. "I-it's just how I feel, how I've felt for a long time, a-and I've just recently put a name to those feelings. It's nobody's fault, it's j-just how I am... I'm a boy, and I want to be called Jeremy..."

"Anna, just listen to yourself! You're _not_ a _boy_! I think I would know better than anyone that I gave birth to a _girl_! You are my _daughter_! Something is wrong with you and we need to get you therapy and fix whatever  _this_ -" she made a vague gesture with her hand in Jeremy’s general direction- "is that’s going on with you! Please, sweetie, it's for your own good." His mother tried to offer him what she likely thought was a caring smile, tears streaking down her face, but Jeremy just stared back blankly at her, shaking his head.

Her words not only terrified Jeremy with the implications of putting him through the torture of conversion therapy but cut deep into his mind, mutilating the positive perception of himself he had been trying so hard to develop for months on end. All of his positive affirmations that he was really a boy and not just faking these feelings for attention; all of his hopes that he would be accepted by his parents; all of Michael's reassurances and advice through his secret transition; all of the support he'd seen and experienced from the LGBT community online. Completely shattered.

His bottom lip trembled as he backed away from his mother. He couldn't remember what he or his mother said after that, just that he shouted at her, and she shouted back. All of their words muddled together in Jeremy's mind, unable to tell when he was talking or his mom was talking. Everything was too loud and too close and too bright for Jeremy to properly take in anything that was going on.

They shouted at each other like that, back and forth, for who knows how long until silence fell over the room after a sharp smack cut through the air. Jeremy's cheek stung, and his mother panted, hand still in the air after striking. They stared at each other, frozen in place for what felt like a lifetime.

The silence was shattered by the sound of heavy and hurried footsteps coming from the hallway, followed by Jeremy’s father bursting into the room, seeing his wife’s hand still raised after striking their child and a bright red mark forming on Jeremy’s face.

"What the _hell_ did I just come home to?" He asked, trying his best to remain calm, despite the anger rising inside of him from the situation he was currently looking at.

"Our _daughter_ is trying to tell me that she thinks she’s _a boy_! Can you believe this?!" Jeremy’s mother was obviously still fuming, her hands now balled into fists by her sides.

Jeremy tensed, clenching his eyes shut in anticipation for more verbal or even physical abuse. Instead, he felt his father rest a gentle hand on his shoulder, doing his best to not scare Jeremy any further.

"Anna… Is what your mother just said true?" His voice what gentle, but he sounded heartbroken, causing Jeremy’s chest to tighten and ache from knowing he was causing both of his parents to feel such emotional turmoil. Not trusting his voice, Jeremy opened his eyes and simply nodded, feeling his father gently squeeze his shoulder and murmur a soft “okay” before letting go of Jeremy and turning back towards Jeremy’s mother.

"We need to talk in private about this," he said to her before leaving Jeremy’s room to retreat towards their shared bedroom. Jeremy stole a glance at his mother who glared back at him before following her husband out of the room, slamming Jeremy’s door shut behind her.

Jeremy immediately burst into tears, trying to muffle the sobs that wracked his body with his hand as best he could. He fell to his knees on the floor, covering his mouth with both hands as he curled into himself. He didn't know how long he was just sitting there, crying uncontrollably until he could finally remind himself to breathe properly in order to calm down. His breaths trembled on each prolonged inhale and exhale, gradually growing less shaky as he blocked out as many thoughts about the argument with his mom as he could.

When he finally calmed down enough, he quickly picked up his clothes and pictures off the floor, hiding the clothes in the back of his closet and storing the pictures in a lock box that his mother wouldn’t have access to. He flopped down in his bed, his body and mind both exhausted from all the shouting and crying he’d done, and he proceeded to pull out his phone and text Michael all of the details of the afternoon’s events. Tears streamed down his face just recalling the events over text, but he needed to tell Michael. This was too important to just keep bottled up, but it was difficult to not be affected by everything that happened, despite all of Michael's comforting and supportive words.

As he typed, Jeremy could hear his parents’ voices from the next room over, gradually getting louder and louder until they were practically having a screaming match. He heard thumps and shatters from the hallway, and the front door eventually slammed shut, a despairing silence filling the household.

Jeremy choked back hard sobs, knowing that this was all his fault. All of his parents’ arguments were his fault because he wasn’t the perfect daughter that his mother wanted. He wished with all his heart that he would have just been born as male; maybe then he wouldn’t be such a disappointment in his mother’s eyes.

Upon hearing a knock at the door, Jeremy silenced his sobs and wiped the tears away as much as he could when the door opened, revealing his father.

"Hey, kiddo. I'm not gonna ask if you're doing okay because I don't think any of us are right now," he says with a humorless chuckle. He sat on the edge of Jeremy's bed, and in close proximity, Jeremy can see the redness in his father's eyes, likely due to crying while fighting with his mother. Another pang of guilt stabbed through Jeremy's chest at the thought of being the reason for all of this.

His thoughts were interrupted when his father spoke again. "I just want you to know that I still love you with all of my heart. I don't think anything you could ever do or say could make me love you any less. We're going to work through this, and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure you're happy and healthy, okay?"

Hearing his father's words gave Jeremy some hope, causing him to openly cry once more. He sat up and hugged his father, thanking him and apologizing over and over for causing the entire situation. His father shushed his son softly while tightly embracing him, gently stroking Jeremy's hair to soothe him as much as possible. Jeremy's father ushered his son to lie down and get some sleep, getting up to turn off the lights and whispering a soft "I love you" before shutting the door behind him.

Jeremy closed his eyes and eventually dozed off from the emotional exhaustion that draped over his body. The last thought passing through his mind before sleep engulfed him was how all of the beautiful memories of the last weekend were all tainted now, ruined by his unaccepting mother.

His mother, who he did not know until the next day would never see in their household again because that night she returned to retrieve her belongings and leave a note that she would be out of both her husband and son’s lives for good.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah sorry this was super depressing. I'm open to constructive criticism and suggestions of how to improve my writing. Kudos and comments are very much appreciated!


End file.
